Rain plays spoilsport at Flushing Meadows

Rain threw the US Open into disarray for the second consecutive year, meaning finals will be pushed back again, and the tournament will end on Monday.

Written by Agence-France Presse

Read Time: 4 mins

New York:

Rafael Nadal stepped out of the players' cafeteria at the US Open a little before 3 pm on Friday and pressed his face against a window, cupping his hands around his eyes as he scanned the soaked tournament grounds.

Yep, it was still pouring.

And he, like everyone else, was still waiting.

Rain threw the US Open into disarray for the second consecutive year, meaning both singles finals will be pushed back again, and the tournament will end on Monday at the earliest.

A mix of showers and mist forced postponement of all of Friday's three scheduled singles matches. That included six-time major champion Nadal's quarterfinal against No. 11-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, a match already suspended on Thursday night because of showers after Nadal won the first set in a tiebreaker and led 3-2 in the second-set tiebreaker.

Also delayed: The two women's semifinals, one between defending champion Serena Williams and 2005 champion Kim Clijsters, the other between a pair of 19-year-olds never before this far at a Grand Slam tournament, Caroline Wozniacki and Yanina Wickmayer.

"They canceled my match for today! U all have to wait until tomorrow!! (I have to wait too) I love u all for sticking around to watch!! Xxx S," Williams wrote on her Twitter feed.

Those three matches were all rescheduled for Saturday, when the forecast again calls for rain. Saturday's new schedule was set to have Nadal-Gonzalez begin at noon, followed by Wozniacki-Wickmayer, with Williams-Clijsters slated to start after 8 p.m.

Assuming the women's semifinals can be completed Saturday, that final will be moved to Sunday. Organizers were still trying to iron out all the details, including determining where matches will be aired on TV.

The men's final then would be moved from Sunday to Monday. Last year, the US Open men's final was played on a Monday for the first time since 1987.

There is no roof on any court at Flushing Meadows, although studies have been done to check on the feasibility of adding one to Arthur Ashe Stadium. There is a new $60 million indoor facility on the grounds, but that is used only for practice during the tournament.

Wimbledon put a retractable roof over Centre Court for this year's tournament _ when the weather was so nice, only parts of two matches were played indoors _ while the Australian Open has retractable roofs over its two main courts and plans to cover a third. The French Open intends to have a roof over its center court within the next several years.

The players dealt with Friday's delays in various ways. Wozniacki spent some time practicing indoors, then stopped by the cafeteria, then wandered the hallways of Ashe.

Clijsters plunked herself down on the arm of a couch in the players' lounge, chatting with pals.

"That's tennis. That's life," said Clijsters, who returned to the tour last month after a 2 1/2-year retirement. "It's nothing new. I'd rather be waiting here than sitting at home."

Williams knows a thing or two about this sort of situation: Her victory over Jelena Jankovic in the 2008 US Open final came on Sunday.

What was her father, who also serves as her coach, saying to Williams on Friday?

"Telling her to just make sure she stays relaxed. Stay calm. Don't get anxious. Just remember the things we worked on. Take a nap. Try to eat something. Do a little stretching where you don't get too stiff," Richard Williams said. "And keep your mind on when the time comes for you to go out and play, so you're ready to go."

All of Friday's three matches were originally to be played in Arthur Ashe Stadium, one after the other, starting at 12:30 pm (1630GMT)

One indication of the general state of disorder, though: At 12:30 p.m., with a drizzle falling, a message on the main video screen outside the main arena alerted ticket-holders, "First match in Arthur Ashe Stadium scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Thank you for your patience." Yet a smaller board to the side said: "First match in Arthur Ashe Stadium scheduled for 2:00 p.m."

Organizers decided to try to spread out the matches, leaving Williams-Clijsters on Ashe, while moving Nadal-Gonzalez and Wozniacki-Wickmayer to other courts. All were to start simultaneously, weather permitting.

The weather never did permit that, though, and the four women were allowed to leave the grounds at about 5 p.m. Nadal and Gonzalez were asked to stick around a little longer; they were told they could depart at about 6 p.m. _ seven hours after Nadal left his hotel Friday morning.